Crossing yet another provincial border we journeyed towards Saskatchewan’s capital city of Regina
to reunite with friends from CEGEP. I had not seen Steve and Shylah for nearly 5 years and it was good to see that some things
never change! We reminisced over BBQ, satellite TV and had an early night with an even earlier morning as we headed
north through the province.
On the way to Prince Albert we found an interesting
tourist stop, the Manitou Beach spa and
resorts. This cute little town in the middle of the prairies was saddled by a huge, densely salted lake whose buoyancy matched
that of the Dead Sea. Water from the lake had been pumped
into pools of various resorts dotting the peppled shore. The pools were heated to different temperatures and advertised
as having traditional Native healing powers. They were also coloured a shade of brownish-yellow and smelled faintly of sulphur.
We figured a spa would provide a welcome break from driving and decided to float away the afternoon. We made friends with
the other bobbing patrons, most of whom were seniors enjoying the therapeutic properties of the relaxing pools.
After washing away the mineral residue we chowed down on Subway sandwiches and headed back
on the road. As we drove north we were completely surrounded by miles and miles of Saskatchewan
prairie – flat and golden. Infinite stretches of yellowing crops were being harvested as we cruised by snapping
pictures,fighting the urge to run like crazy through the corn!
We finally arrived in PA and onto the doorstep of Wanda’s apartment, a very good friend
of Sara’s mom. We spent a few days in this suprisingly bustling grassland town. We visited Prince
Albert National Park, just north of the city, walking through the
fall foliage and climbing wooden towers with views of meandering rivers and reaching aspen.
Oddly enough our friend Kerry, who we also met in Korea,
along with his wife Nicole, was travelling through PA on tour with Yuk Yuk's….he a comedian in a mini-van! At Diggers,
a local tavern, we watched Kerry and his 2 friends perform for a small but appreciative crowd. Kerry, the thing about the
Cheese Whiz...friggin’ hilarious man!
After the show we grabbed some drinks and laughed about all those crazy times we had in that
even crazier Asian country. This was also the night of The Beast's first snow…yup, on September 30th
the ground truned white in Saskatchewan and we were less than ecstatic about an early winter!
